Technical or psychological - what's ailing Mominul?

The lean patch that Mominul Haque has experienced, has gone on for a while now. Since his knock of 88 against New Zealand in January this year, Mominul has reached double digits only twice in 12 innings - 13* and 37 in the same series. With as many as 12 single-digit scores and a lowly average of 13.83 in 2022, the 30-year-old has certainly been going through a torrid time with the bat. Whether the issues are technical or mental have been the discussions in Bangladesh cricket circles.

Mominul quit Test captaincy ahead of the tour of West Indies in order to focus on his batting. However, he fared poorly in the first Test, registering scores of 0 and 4 in Antigua. It's been more than a year since Mominul, who has the most Test centuries among all Bangladesh players, scored his last ton and it remains to be seen if he retains his place for the second Test.

Shakib Al Hasan, who took over the Test captaincy before this series, said he will speak to the out-of-form batter to check if he needs a break, and that he was welcome to have one if he insists. "It is tough for me to say (whether he needs a break) but I speak to him regularly and we will talk again and if he thinks he needs a break, it can happen," Shakib had said after the seven wicket loss.

A day earlier, head coach Russell Domingo had pointed out that Mominul was low on confidence, which can make it quite difficult to score runs with that state of mind. The mode of dismissals in the opening Test, with Mominul being caught at second slip off Jayden Seales in the first innings and trapped in front by Kyle Mayers in the second, could validate Domingo's observations as the batter was rather late to the ball on both occasions.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Salahuddin, the childhood mentor of Mominul who has been working with him since his days in BKSP - Bangladesh's sports institute from where Mominul graduated - feels that a break will not solve his problems until the reason for his failures is identified, whether technical or mental.

"I don't think the break is a solution," Salahuddin told Cricbuzz on Monday (June 20). "The main thing is that he needs to work hard in order to perform well and now we have to find out what area he needs to work because unless that is found it would be futile exercise. Those who struggle with off-form work mainly on technical issues.

"But it can be a psychological problem for Mominul this time around. If it's a technical problem then I think he will get back to his form soon but if it's mental then certainly there is a lot of work that needs to be done. As he has been getting out early, I think there can be some technical problems with his batting," Salahuddin said.

Salahuddin also feels that Mominul hasn't been scoring at his usual strike rate, and appears more concerned of staying at the wicket instead of going for runs. Mominul's strike rate has dropped quite a bit in the recent past - while he used to score at over 50, Mominul's 166 runs in 13 innings in 2022 have come at a strike rate of 35.47. Salahuddin insists that playing his natural game would be the best way to get back into rhythm.

"Different people will give different opinions. I think Mominul should play the way he wants to bat. One can score a fifty but if he doesn't play with ease then he can't get back to rhythm and I feel what is important for him is that he gets back his rhythm, said Salahuddin. "I think he should find out the problem and play accordingly and even if he fails for some time, even then I don't think it's a problem (till he is playing his natural game).

"When a batsman scores runs, he doesn't think too much in his mind. I think Mominul must remove all the things such as staying at the crease, playing like this way or that way, etc. When he scores runs, he doesn't see these things. But now he has a lot of pictures in his mind and now he needs to remove that," Salahuddin pointed out.